


Recovering Souls

by romionelover



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Boys In Love, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hogwarts, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Pining, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Smut, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29743035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romionelover/pseuds/romionelover
Summary: “Weird to be back?” Draco asked, smoothing down his bedsheets and closing a book he was previously reading.Harry was dumbfounded. Why was Draco talking to him? Hadn’t they silently had a mutual agreement that they were enemies? After all, Draco had practically worked against him and tried to murder him, why should Harry have any respect for him whatsoever?Draco sighed regretfully. “I won’t bring it up again,” he said calmly, retrieving his book and continuing his reading.But then again, Harry thought, it’s not like he had a choice.A post-war world where the hogwarts students come back to retake their missed seventh year. Harry just can't stop thinking about the one person he despises.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Pansy Parkinson/Blaise Zabini, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Dating Ginny Weasley, Harry had decided, was the best decision he ever made. He was more than happy to be with her, and he was so pleasantly sure she felt the exact same way. Coming back to school after battling Voldermort, however, he had shortly decided afterwards, was not. Being back at Hogwarts felt like a fever dream. He found himself stuck, constantly being reminded of the little things that made him panic and feel unsteady. But Ginny was always there, right at his side, to calm him down and to be there for him. Hermione and Ron did there best to be there, but they were so caught up in their own relationship to be there for him all the time. But they tried. And as if being endlessly reminded of Harry's troubles wasn't enough, the Gryffindors were being forced to share their dorms and common room with the Slytherins. Yes, their “enemies,” the Slytherins themselves. The Gryffindor tower had been destroyed during the battle with Voldermort, and there was no fast enough way to repair it. Sure, they could rebuild it, but the enchantments had taken years to fully set in stone. So that meant Harry Potter had to share a room with Draco Malfoy. Yes, the Draco Malfoy.

Ron was just as furious as Harry was when he found out, but Hermione tried to be reasonable. 

"You should be the angry one, Hermione! He called you... well, you know what he called you!" Ron had told her after the news quickly spread. Hermione handed him a plate of scrambled eggs she had made herself. She cooked a lot in the Burrow ever since she decided to move in after the war. Molly was more than happy to let her share Ginny's room.

"Yes, I know that Ronald." Hermione scoffed, crossing her arms and looking directly into his endlessly blue eyes. "But I, for one, am tired of all the hate going on. It's so ridiculous." 

Ron slumped down after taking a bite of his eggs. "But he's just such a git!" 

"We're graduating this year, we should focus on that instead." Hermione had said matter-of-factly. 

"Hermione's right." Harry chimed in after a moment, Hermione setting a plate down in front of him. "Let's just stay out of his way. This last year is important." And with that Ron sighed, but had eventually agreed to let it go. 

Yet, here the two boys were, their first day back, dissing on Malfoy on their way down to the dungeons, where the Slytherin and Gryffindor common room was linked. They walked there from Potions class, where they went to check to see if Professor Slughorn was still teaching. Harry was rather fond of him now, but Ron was still skeptical. They made their way inside and to their new dorm, and were about to sit down on Harry's bed when a familiar voice stopped them. 

"Potter." 

Harry turned at that, seeing Draco Malfoy sitting on his green blanketed bed. He sat with his eyebrows raised and a calm, collected look on his face. He almost seemed amused. 

"Malfoy." Harry responded carefully, pretending he wasn't just talking to Ron about the blonde-haired boy in front of him. 

"Weird to be back?" Draco asked, smoothing down his bedsheets and closing a book he was previously reading. 

Harry was dumbfounded. Why was Draco talking to him? Hadn't they silently had a mutual agreement that they were enemies? After all, Draco had practically worked against him to try and murder him, why should Harry have any respect for him whatsoever? 

Draco sighed regretfully. "I won't bring it up again," he said calmly, retrieving his book and continuing his reading. 

But then again, Harry thought, it's not like he had had a choice. 

"Did Draco Malfoy just apologize to you?" Ron whispered into Harry's ear, who simply shrugged. 

The two boys did eventually begin unpacking their belongings that had already been brought up for them. Harry had made sure to bring everything he needed from the (newly rebuilt) Burrow, which was where he had also decided, like Hermione, to stay after the war. It's not like he had much other place to go. And besides, he was practically family to the Weasleys. 

Their dormroom door opened. They both looked up when a figure entered the room. It was Neville Longbottom. 

"Hey mate!" Ron and Harry said with smiles, greeting their close friend. They both gave him a side hug and immediately went into a conversation about Neville's life after the war. Draco didn't even look up from his book.

Blaise Zabini was the last one to enter their room. He and Draco locked eyes. "Zabini." 

Blaise nodded in his direction, said "Malfoy" in response, and went to his own bed. The three Gryffindors watched as the two once seemingly close friends seemed to be at a loss of words. They nodded respectfully to each other, but Draco just went back to reading his book. It was like he didn't even care that he hadn't seen his so-called best friend since the war. 

"Is this how all Slytherins get along?" Neville whispered. 

Ron shrugged, not surprised, and looked at Harry, who had his eyes curiously locked on the blonde. 

"Weird." Ron mumbled and Neville nodded in agreement. The three of them went to sit on Harry's bed, and while Neville and Ron talked away, Harry just couldn't seem to stop staring at Draco. Why was he acting so weird? It urked Harry, down to every bone in his body, it frustrated him, seeing Draco so calm and collected. It wasn't right. And he was more than determined to figure out why, whether it was his business to or not.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had most of their classes together. It was ironic really, the three of mischief makers always seemed to end up together. Harry and Ron weren't surprised though, they spent most of their summer trying to match up their classes and electives in the new Burrow. It was unfortunate they’d have to take so more classes than originally planned, but being behind had it’s consequences. Molly found it quite annoying that the boys would rather do that then help them try and straighten up their newly known home. Their old house has been set on fire by Bellatrix, and evil Deatheater who also had killed too many of Harry's friends and family, and they had just now finally rebuilt it to the best of their ability. But Arthur told Molly to let it be, for they had just fought for their lives, after all. And she did after he pointed that out to her. Hermione spent her time catching up on the subjects she'd almost forgotten about during the war. It's not like she was mentally prepared to live any longer, so she had fallen behind on her regular studies. They did spend months in that tent in the middle of nowhere.  
Nevertheless, they were all pretty settled with their classes. Well, Harry thought he was. That is, until he realized that every single class he was taking, Draco Malfoy was also in. How ironic was it that the one person he didn't want to be with was in each and every class. Then again, Harry thought, maybe this way he could see just exactly what Draco was up to. He needed to find out why the once hateful blonde was all of a sudden calm and seemingly caring. 

Harry went along his second day seemingly well. He tried not to think too hard on it when someone would thank him for saving the wizarding world, or when he saw a large wound in the walls that wasn't there before. It almost gave him a stomachache looking at it all. Hermione tried to calm him down by explaining it was probably just his nerves.  
And he had a right to be nervous. Everyone did. But Harry most of all.

Thankfully, he had one friend in each class. He shared his first class of the day, Transfiguration, with Ron, Hermione, and Luna. There they were learning the most advanced spells transfiguration spells that there were. Hermione, of course, got hers right on the first try and immediately went to help Ron. It took a little longer for Harry, but he eventually began to get the hang of things. Draco sat in the very back with Pansy Parkinson. 

His second class was History of Magic, which he sat beside Ginny. He had a hard time paying attention because he was much more focused on the way her hand felt in his own and the way her lips looked from her side profile. Ginny didn't seem to notice much of his staring. And if she did, she would just smile shyly and squeeze his hand, bringing him back to reality. Sometimes, Harry just wished he would let her stare. She was brilliantly stunning, after all. Draco sat near the front with, once again, Pansy Parkinson.

His third class was his first chosen elective, Divination, taught by Professor Trelawney. He genuinely only went to it because Neville had convinced them too. He sat up front with Ron and Neville. Draco sat a table away from him, and their seats were close, almost close enough for their backs to touch. Harry found himself thinking about that a lot. He couldn't decide whether he hated the fact that they were so close, or, strange as it sounds, if he liked it. He later decided on the first option.

His fourth class was his second elective, Care of Magical Creatures. Harry only really took this class because Hagrid had bugged him about it, going on about how much Buckbeak had liked him and how gentle he was with Hedwig. Draco was there too, for some odd reason, and Harry was starting to get frustrated. 

His fifth class was Astronomy, which he rather liked. Mostly because Draco sat on the opposite side of the room from him. It was interesting enough though, and he got to sit with Seamus and Dean. He did find it odd when he dropped his quill and reached for it, and saw Seamus and Dean holding hands under the table. But he brushed it away. After all, they were good friends. But then again, it's not like he would ever randomly hold hands with Ron in the middle of class. The more and more he thought about it, the more curious it made him. But eventually, he had to look into his future through a glass ball, and he forgot all about the two boys. 

His sixth class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, where a brand new professor he'd never heard of decided to teach. The class hurt to be in. He couldn't stop thinking of Snape... and Dumbledore... and Voldermort... and his parents... and Professor Lupin... and Tonks, and Sirius, and Fred, and... 

"Harry, what's wrong?" 

Harry looked up, realizing his head was in his hands and he was breathing roughly. Ginny was beside him with a concerned face. She wrapped her arms around him and helped him stand up. The entire class stared as they made their way out of the classroom. He met Draco's eyes as he walked out, and he almost thought he saw... what was that... remorse? No. It couldn't be.  
Hermione and Ron rushed out shortly afterwards as Ginny was sitting Harry outside of the classroom, their hands clasped. Harry was still breathing unevenly, but he managed to look at his three friends as they sat around him. 

"Harry, just breathe," Hermione said. 

"What the bloody hell happened?" Ron asked bluntly, looking over at his sister. 

"I don't know," she replied. "One minute he was fine, the next he was breathing like this."

Hermione cut off their questioning. "Harry, what happened? Is your scar hurting? Did you eat something weird, or-"

"No, no." Harry took a deep breath, looking at the three sets of worried eyes on him. "No. I'm fine. It's okay. I just got... dizzy." He stood carelessly, letting go of Ginny and holding his hands onto the wall behind him. 

"You don't look fine," Hermione stated. Ginny agreed with a nod. 

"Yeah, mate," Ron said. "Maybe we should get you back to-"

"I said I'm fine." Harry said and carried himself back into the class. Everyone eyes were immediately on him, as if he wasn't already too overwhelmed. But his friends knew better than to try and get answers out of him, so they went back to their seats. 

Ginny returned beside Harry and reached her hand down to his slowly, intertwined their fingers, and squeezed his hand three times, their way of wordlessly saying I love you. 

Harry looked into her eyes and smiled.

Harry's seventh class was Herbology. He and Ginny, luckily, got to be sat near Neville. Neville was more than brilliant with Herbology. It was his favorite subject, after all. The class was fairly easy, and Harry's breathing had thankfully had time to calm down. But when he looked to his right, all the way on the other side of the table, Draco was staring at him. Intensely. Urgently. This shocked Harry so hard in his bones that his breathing increased again and he pulled his eyes away and back down to the plant in front of him. He groaned to himself and didn't look back that way again. 

His eighth, and final class, was Potions. Harry was more than happy to be taught by Slughorn again, even if he didn't have the book that gave him all the answers for an easy pass. But of course, his enjoyment just had to be ruined. He stepped into the class with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. He was already holding Ginny's hand, and they were going to sit down beside each other, when Professor Slughorn cleared his throat. 

"I'll be partnering you all based on both your O.W.L scores and your skills the previous year. For the new students, you will be put with each other based on a list I've gotten from our Headmistress, McGonagall." 

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. So much for sitting together. 

Professor Slughorn began to call out names to arrange the seating. Seamus and Neville— Ginny and Luna— Hermione and Blaise— Ron and Dean— and a few more. Harry looked up once all the names were called except his and one other. 

And of course, just to his disastrous luck, his partner happened to be Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Draco sat with a dramatic huff beside Harry, obviously pretending he was frustrated with his assigned seat. Harry decided the best option was just not to make eye contact, not to interact, not to say a word to the notoriety seeking blonde. It was kind of hard to, though, because he could practically feel Draco shifting in his seat every two seconds. He absent-mindedly turned to face him.

"Would you stop?" He asked after a sigh, looking down at Draco's Slytherin tie instead of his eyes. 

Draco said nothing in response, although it looked like he really wanted to, and he shifted once more and began to scoot his chair further from the chosen one. Harry continued avoiding eye contact when Professor Slughorn began to talk. 

"We'll be discussing the most advanced levels of potions today, students. As you remember back in our sixth year, we made the Felix Felicis potion, also known as...?" He looked around the class. 

Hermione Granger's hand shot up as usual. "Liqiud luck, sir."

And she was right, of course. She always was.

"Yes, Ms.Granger. Liquid luck. Today we will be attempting to brew the liquid luck potion. The first three students who can make it correctly will be able to keep their potion." 

All the students eyes became greedy with determination. Everyone wanted to make the potion correctly. It was liquid luck, after all, who wouldn't want to be lucky with no effort? 

"You all will be partnering with the person next to you. You will have to share your books since some of them caught fire during the war."

During the war. Slughorn had just spat it out so naturally like there was no trauma or suffering to the subject. Harry side-eyed Draco, attempting to catch his reaction to the words, but found himself accidentally locking eyes with the blonde. He should've looked away, but something in Draco's eyes made him not want to. It was something unreadable, something so mysterious even a curious Gryffindor like him couldn't figure it out if he tried. Draco's mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but he found himself looking down and then away. Harry unhooked his gaze from Draco's indecipherable eyes and lowered them down to the instruction book sitting on the desk. Slughorn went on and continued talking more in-depth about what exactly they had to do, but Harry wasn't paying much attention. Instead, he was staring down at the desk he was sharing with Draco, and trying not to let the war memories Slughorn mentioned sink in too far. 

"Are you going to actually do something, or are you just going to stay in your own little world, Potter?" Draco asked, rather aggressively, and Harry's head shot up and he locked eyes with the blonde again. 

"What?" Harry stared at him dumbfoundedly. He had been to busy trying to avoid memories to even attemp to listen to anything anyone was saying.

"I said, are you going to actually do something, or are you going to just sit there and be useless?" Draco repeated bluntly, raising his left eyebrow, adding to the rather cruel look on his face. 

So much for him being calm and collected, Harry thought and turned to look in their textbook. The instructions were simple enough, and Harry followed them with relatively decent ease. 

‘FELIX FELICIS.   
Ingrident List and Instructions:

Follow with caution.

One cubic litre of water for the base.

Add in one ashwinder egg. Shell or no shell is appropriate.

Add one generous teaspoon's worth of horseradish. You can use horseradish sauce or the actual raw root if you prefer. 

Then light a flame underneath your cauldron and gently heat the mixture. 

Next, squeeze in the juice from the squill bulb. Once you are able to get all the juice you can out, throw away the flesh part. 

Give your potion a good stir. 

The next ingredient can be quite hard to get. These look the spike of an anemones, but actually come from the back of a murtlap. Carefully take one of the fleshy spikes and chop it up into small pieces with a knife and then drop the chopped murtlap spikes into your cauldron.

The next ingredient you'll need is a splash of tincture of Thyme.’

Harry read this step out loud and reached for the bottle with the word "Thyme" ingraved on it. As soon as his hand touched the glass, he felt cold fingers touch it. 

He looked up from the potion and saw Draco, eyes narrowed, his hand wrapped around the potion. 

"Best if you do it," the blonde said with a huff and let go of the glass.

Harry nodded, looked away, and poured it in.

‘Then you'll need to add in the shell from an occamy egg. You don't need the whole egg, so crack it and save the inside for later. Drop the shell into a pestle and mortar and grind it up until you have a fine powder. Once the whole shell has been turned to dust, add it to your cauldron.

Finally add just a sprinkle of powdered common rue. Then you'll need to wave your wand over the cauldron in a figure-eight motion and say the incantation "felixempra" then take a sip and try your luck.’

Harry read carefully, following the listed instructions as closely as possible. He came to an abrupt pause right before waving his wand when Draco finally spoke. 

"I'll do that part." He said. 

Harry looked over at him. "You haven't done anything this entire time, Malfoy. I'll do it. I've done everything else already."

"Exactly, you've done it all. Now move over and let me do this, Potter, before everyone else is already finished." Draco pushed Harry out of the way and held up his wand. 

"You've got to be joking," Harry mumbled and watched as Draco recited the incantation perfectly. The potion began to bubble, than sat flawlessly in their cauldron. Draco grinned smugly at Harry, who looked away with a roll of his eyes. 

Professor Slughorn came to check the potion soon after. Draco and Harry had gotten first place, with Hermione and Blaise in second, and Ginny and Luna in third. Each pair was rewarded a seperate luck potion for the each of them. 

"Use it wisely." Professor Slughorn told them. They all nodded. Draco just stared at Harry.

"He's such a git, I can’t believe he did that!" Ron exclaimed as him and Harry walked towards the Gryffindor and Slytherins combined common room. Hermione caught up with them just in time to hear the spatted words. 

"Who?" She asked them, eyeing Ron.

"Who else?" Ron said with a slight smile, intertwining his pale fingers with Hermione's. She laughed softly, dismissing the conversation, and leaned on his shoulder as they sauntered to their dormitories. Hermione entered theirs just as the sun was beginning to set in the sky, which she was able to see out a small window ahead of the dungeons. She had decided on using her Prefect powers to her advantage and sleep with Ron that night. She sat on Ron's bed along with him. Harry eyed them with a small grin, and went to their shared bathrooms to get ready for the night. 

Neville followed in after him with a wave and went to brush his teeth as Harry stepped in their shower, which was at the very back of the room. He let the hot water hit his back and sighed against it, letting the memories of being struck by Voldermort come to a halt. He let himself relax, just for a moment, just to himself. He let every single horrid, guilty thought leave his mind. He let himself stand there and ran his hands through his tangled, raven-colored, now wet hair. It was the best he'd felt in quite a while. 

Harry stepped out after wrapping his towel around his waist, and came face to face with Draco Malfoy. Great. Of course. Just his luck. 

"Move already, will you?" Draco said, and Harry snapped out of the trance he didn't realize he was in. 

"S-Sorry," he muttered and moved past the careless blonde, making his way towards the sink to brush his teeth. He heard the shower turn on and couldn't help himself from looking in the mirror. Draco's silhouette was in his view, and he quickly tore his eyes away from the mirror and rinsed off his toothbrush. He was about to look up again, just for a peak for some damn reason he couldn't figure out, when he heard a knock on the bathroom door. 

"Harry! Ginny's here to see you She can only stay for a few minutes since, you know, she's not a Prefect like Hermione." Neville said, and Harry rushed to put on his pajamas.

Harry stepped out and saw Ginny smiling, sitting on his bed, already covered in his red sheets. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun, and she held out her right hand and motioned for Harry to come and sit. 

He sat beside her and looked over at Ron's bed, whose drapes were shut and he rolled his eyes with a grin. "He better have casted Muffliato this time." 

"Gross. I don't want to think about that," Ginny said, scrunching her nose and smiling. She swaddled her arms around Harry's neck and pulled him closer to her. He snuggled nearer, getting under the covers, and kissed her forehead lightly. Her freckles were illuminated by the nearby lamp, and it took everything in Harry's power not to kiss every single one of them. Instead, he leaned down and gently kissed her lips. Without hesitation, she parted her lips and confided in his arms. 

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Draco announced suddenly, breaking their kiss and making both their heads turn immediately. Neville looked up from his book, and Ron drew his drapes slightly, poking his head out to see why Draco was making a fuss. 

"What's wrong, Malfoy?" Neville asked innocently. 

"Potter and the Weaslette!" Draco said, slipping his moss green colored pajama shirt over his head. "This is a shared dorm, you know. Either get out or close your drapes." 

Harry’s cheeks grew warm... did Draco see him kissing Ginny? Why did it matter? Ginny picked up her wand, rasied it and said "locomotor drapes," and they closed with ease. Harry turned to face her. 

"The indecency of you Gryffindors is unbelievable sometimes." They heard Draco mutter and they found themselves snickering over it. 

"He's dramatic," Ginny said, unable to contain her smile. 

"Always has been." Harry whispered with a laugh.

Ginny rasied her wand again and casted Muffliato, then leaned back into Harry's lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave kudos and even a comment if you want!!

**Author's Note:**

> leave kudos and even a comment if you’d like!!


End file.
